Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Short Interest Update

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,980,000 shares, an increase of 21.0% from the February 28th total of 3,290,000 shares. Currently, 7.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PLRX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.31.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $587,092.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,790.40. The trade was a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $178,483.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,369,449.60. This trade represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,402,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,725,000 after acquiring an additional 26,610 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 265.2% during the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 170,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 123,600 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,318,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,781,000 after acquiring an additional 31,221 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,039,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,657,000 after acquiring an additional 14,913 shares during the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $1.34 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.24 and a 1-year high of $16.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4.23 and its 200-day moving average is $10.05. The stock has a market cap of $82.06 million, a P/E ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.18.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Pliant Therapeutics Company Profile

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes novel therapies for the treatment of fibrosis and related diseases in the United States. The company's lead candidate is bexotegrast, an oral, small-molecule, dual selective inhibitor of avß6 and avß1 integrins, which is in phase 2b trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and in phase 2a trial for primary sclerosing cholangitis.